How can researchers receive better support in managing their data – and who is responsible? The KAFFE project examined what Swedish e-infrastructure for research looks like today, and how well it meets researchers’ needs in relation to research data management. The aim was to create a clearer picture of where support works well, where there are gaps, and how the system can be developed to better support research in the future. The work was carried out from a national perspective and in collaboration with organizations in the SND network.
The project concluded on 31 December 2025, but KAFFE-related work will continue in 2026 as part of SND’s regular activities.

About the KAFFE project

KAFFE, which stands for kartläggning av förmågor inom forskningens e-infrastruktursystem – mapping capabilities in the research e-infrastructure system – began in autumn 2024. Its purpose was to map how Swedish researchers’ practices and needs relating to research data management correspond to existing e-infrastructure, and to present what the e-infrastructure landscape would need to look like in order to better meet those needs in the future. The project considered all parts of what is referred to as e-infrastructure for research: technical solutions, organization, and human expertise linked to research data management across the different phases of the research data lifecycle.

Another important task for the project was to clarify the laws and regulations connected to different stages of the research data management process. This was intended to make roles and responsibilities clearer and to identify where coordination is needed to bridge the gap between policy and practice.

Background to the project

The current Swedish research e-infrastructure landscape is complex and partly fragmented, despite several initiatives to improve coordination. Many actors, both local and national, offer services and support for research data, but the division of responsibilities is unclear, and responsibilities and mandates sometimes overlap or leave gaps. As a result, researchers face different conditions for accessing support and services, both locally, at the higher education institutions, and at national level. At the same time, Swedish researchers are part of a global research community, which means that infrastructure also needs to work seamlessly in international contexts, for example within EOSC.

To build strong and coherent support for researchers, we need a better understanding of the present situation: what do researchers need, what support is already in place, and what is missing? 

In 2025, the project carried out a capability mapping to gain a clearer picture of the competences and functions needed for effective research data management. By interviewing researchers and analysing their experiences in relation to existing support and current rules, guidelines and policies, the project contributed to an overall picture of the present situation. This shows where things work well and where there is room for development towards more coordinated and fit-for-purpose support for the needs of research.

The capability mapping built on previous national and local mappings, and complemented the results from several inquiries, investigations, and reports from various stakeholders.

Aim

The project aimed to deliver a mapping of roles and responsibilities linked to research data management throughout the research process. The mapping was intended to provide a picture of the current state of research data support, for individual researchers and for research group-based projects, as well as of the overall coordination of existing e-infrastructure. In this way, the mapping could highlight possible gaps where different business capabilities are not being met. Each project track also had its own objectives.

In the longer term, the results will help ensure that the actors responsible for coordination have the conditions they need to coordinate the development of e-infrastructure for research data. Future initiatives involving local, national, and international e-infrastructure solutions can thereby be designed to provide researchers with better support.

Project organization during 2024–2025

Project manager: Monica Lassi, consultant

Project group:

• Emma-Lisa Hansson, NeIC Puhuri (until June 2025)
• Gustav Nilsonne, Karolinska Institutet, and Senior Advisor at SND
• Karin Westin Tikkanen, Senior Advisor at SND
• Lisa Isaksson, Language Coordinator at SND
• Madeleine Dutoit, Malmö University, and Training Coordinator at SND
• Stefan Ekman, Senior Advisor at SND
• Sverker Holmgren, Director of Chalmers e-Commons

The project’s three tracks

Initially, the project work was carried out in three parallel tracks with different aims and working groups. The results from the three tracks contribute to the overall picture and will be presented in a joint project report and a number of more detailed sub-reports.

Track 1: Analysis of reports

Members of the working group were responsible for reading one or more documents, such as reports and investigations. The purpose was to analyse the extent to which the different investigations and reports shed light on all or parts of the infrastructural support required for researchers to manage research data to a high standard. During the reading, the contents of the reports were compared with the capability map developed as part of the Verksamhetskartläggning forskningsdatahantering (PDF) project at Lund University in 2021. The group identified which capabilities were mentioned, and which were not mentioned, in the reports, as well as where responsibility for different capabilities was said to lie.

The track also took into account parallel and complementary initiatives, anchored at different higher education institutions or within research-performing organizations, that relate to how capabilities for research data management are developed. Such initiatives – for example services, projects, tools, and competences – complement the description of the current situation and are included in the final project report.

The results of the reading were compiled to provide an overview of which actors are currently responsible for which capabilities, and what gaps exist in the current division of responsibilities. The reading also focused on how capabilities are referred to in the reports, which also formed part of the work in Track 2: Terminology and capabilities.

Track 1 was led by Gustav Nilsonne and Karin Westin Tikkanen.

Track 2: Terminology and capabilities

Supporting digital infrastructure for research needs to be based on a shared understanding. Terminology plays a crucial role in this. The terminology work in the project built on, and continues to build on, work already under way at SND. Within the project, this was supplemented by looking at how key actors use central concepts such as research data, research data management, and storage. The analysis of reports in track 1 was linked to the terminology work by examining, among other things, whether key concepts are defined in the reports and how these definitions differ between reports and actors.

The track also reviewed and updated the descriptions of the capabilities in the capability map, so that they are well defined, relevant to the aims of the project, and correspond to the map as it emerges through the interviews and researchers’ practices. This includes, for example, the description of what a capability entails.

Track 2 was led by Lisa Isaksson and Stefan Ekman.

Track 3: Interviews with researchers

The purpose of supporting digital infrastructure is, of course, to support researchers’ work in the best possible way. Researchers’ voices are important, but they are still often not very prominent in needs analyses and development work. The aim of this track was to contribute to an understanding of researchers’ practices and needs, and to provide a basis for the actors responsible for coordination. The work took as its starting point the methods, guides, and responses from previous researcher-focused analyses.

The working group interviewed researchers, primarily at their own higher education institutions. The interviews were then analysed, with the project group responsible for the analysis, and the results are presented in the form of text and visualizations. To support this work, the working group had access to instructions for the interview methodology, an interview guide, an analysis guide, and guidance throughout the process. Persons in the working groups could take part in selected parts of the work, for example by conducting interviews, analysing and coding data, or presenting the results. However, the working group was active throughout the full working period.

Track 3 was led by Madeleine Dutoit and Sverker Holmgren.